The Past is the Past (Siobhan)

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis peered at @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. "Hmm, I have no idea what you're talking about. I hear you pestered my predecessor to get information on Ossus, but this all sounds rather odd. Perhaps you're trying to be amusing."
Shaking her head at the woolly thinking in the universe, she moved on.
"Well I am going to sleep. You may do as you wish," Phylis said primly.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Phylis Alince"]

"You missed the red-green-blue ending. Well, ghost brat getting it ruined," Siobhan felt the urge to tell Phylis just how amusing she could be but...damn, ah, right, commitment! Actually taking it seriously now. Not that hitting on her would work anyway. Given the big storm outside she likewise could not go out to have a smoke. Admittedly she was trying to quit anyway, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Ah, ok. I'll...find something quiet to occupy my time." Like read notes about post-Kar'zun invasion Eldorai history under Ariana the Great, since she had nothing better to do - she was really desperate it seemed, but perhaps there might be pretty pictures to look at.

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Unfortunately there were no pretty pictures. Rather, there were tightly written notes about obscure historical points that would have confused a professor.
Part of the dissertation was as follows, for instance;

In conclusion, the power of the Ariane the Great has been somewhat exaggerated by later historians. Whilst it is clear her daughter Ariane II was responsible for much of this press as a means to her own aggrandisement, this does not mean that Araine I does not deserve the title ‘Great’. Though Jaethan argues that the war against the Kar’zun was less of an event, my research has concluded just the opposite. The invasion had massive ramifications for the Eldorai, and it is chiefly down to Ariane that the Eldorai successfully defeated the menace. It must also be remembered that the critical effort of forming the Eldorai into an alliance was carried out by the Queen.
However, my original conclusion stands, that although she has been exaggerated, she was still a vitally important part of Eldorai history and deserves her title.

There was much more, but by this stage Siobhan’s eyes would be doubtless glazing over as she looked in vain for a copy of ‘The Queen’s Garden’ or other such ‘exotic’ fiction.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

To be fair to her, Siobhan did make an effort to understand the obscure - and to her rather convoluted - narration. The latter point was especially ironic given her writer's tendency to get awfully long-winded and convoluted whenever they wrote historical papers. Err...single-handedly thrashed the Eldorai Clockwork...why she's exaggerated then? Siobhan wondered as she struggled to read the ridiculously tiny footnotes the notes contained, but that just made her head hurt. Way it seemed to her the text was arguing against itself.

The dissertation continued on endlessly as apparently some sort of Historians' Controversy was being narrated, going into obscure points of changes in Eldorai royal protocol and cultural innovations before Siobhan eventually gave up. Was it too much to ask for Phylis to be a bit more concise and to the point? Some pretty pictures would not be bad either, for poor Siobhan still did not know how a Kar'zun looked like. With Phylis sleeping, Siobhan searched in vain among her notes for something that was a bit more readable.

Still...Kar'zun had been the Eldorai's Clockwork...given the experiences Siobhan had went through during the battle on Fondor...maybe she should actually try reading about it - and no one knew what Maelion was up to these days?

Yes, Siobhan might actually want to use a book for something other than a club. There better be pictures though!

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Phylis didn’t like to make things easy, it was true. Her own personal notes were even worse, containing obscure shorthand and random detours. For instance, her diary from the day just past;

Set up camp at Ariane Temple. Rain. Note; check on charcoal delivery on Coruscant. Eldorai sending observer. Probably thug. Study columns for evidence of reshaping. Facade needs close attention. Ship has G4 error. Examine.

It was all very confusing. There were pictures, but they were of blocks of stone or fallen statues with gnomic titles like ‘AX4 – concave fluting’.

When Phylis woke she stretched and rubbed her eyes before stumbling off to get some tea. When she returned she peered at Siobhan. “Did you get any sleep? Ready for a fun day splashing around in a muddy pit?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Siobhan had eventually given up and found some sleep before being roused by Phylis' words. "Yeah, totally. Do you deliberately make everything you write confusing to drive your students crazy?" she snarked as she made her own cup of tea and had a sip before they could go off on an exciting quest in a muddy pit that would contain no monsters, secret treasures or Sith spirits.

It had finally stopped raining, but on the downside the ground was wet and covered in mud. It was good she had dressed practically and not worn the shiny but expensive leather boots she had recently bought!

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis flashed her a cunning smile. “Why of course! Spare the rod, spoil the child. Hmm, silly saying. Anyway, don’t want things to be easy for students and Padawans. Too much sloping off and easy pass-throughs these days. In my day…well…things were pretty much the same, but that’s not the point!”
The Jedi Master got dressed, ate, and then went to look outside. “Well, just as well I don’t have problems choosing what to wear,” she said, indicating her collection of near identical robes.
@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

I never had it easy, Siobhan was quite certain about that. Adril had given her gender lessons and made her pass a test before she got her first lightsabre! Admittedly the elf had been absolutely right concerning the hierarchy of the sexes. This...totally had something to do with the discussion.

"Really, but you have so many varying shades of...brown, so much choice," Siobhan quipped not particularly wittily. For her part Siobhan had always hated Jedi robes. Not only did they offer no protection in battle - sure Jedi could deflect blaster bolts with lightsabres and summon force shields, but that had availed them little in a certain arena in Geonosis or when Order 66 was carried out - they made them look like tossers. The first thing she had done after Tegaea recruited her into Omega Pyre was to get out of her robes!

Regardless Siobhan quickly got dressed in what amounted to the usual semi-paramilitary style outfit she tended to wear, fastening practical combat boots and throwing a long coat over. Of course, there was no chance of them encountering monsters, daemons from Eldorai mythology or zombies, but Siobhan had still brought her MKI bolter, a blaster pistol and a few grenades. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
This writer notes that the first thing Siobhan did when recruited into OP was to get out of her robes…and all her other clothes too! That though is neither here nor there.

“Hmmph, well indeed. You look your usual urban combat self. Perfect outfit for roof breaking, perhaps?” Phylis retorted.

They headed out into the chill mist, Phylis carrying some boxes of equipment with the Force beside her. When they got into the ley of the temple’s interior she set up some lights.

“Now, I’m examining the nave and the sanctum today. Did you want to help out, or wander aimlessly? Either is fine.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

It must be said that it had been....rather hot in these robes, given that they were rather covering. Perhaps the air conditioning in the Pyre Tower had not been the best either. Fortunately Tegaea had been so obliging to help Siobhan out of them...and find more suitable attire for her. Such as the countless form-fitting leather outfits that had found their way into Siobhan's closest.

Siobhan gazed a bit across the ruins of the temple as they entered the first layer. There were a few symbols carved into the walls, though she could not identity them. One could see pillars that had seen better days and looked like they would cave in pretty soon, the colour had long gone away. No monsters appeared and she was not hearing voices in her head, which was a relief. Just because I don't have your super education doesn't mean I'm stupid, Siobhan thought to herself a bit grumpily. Of course, the fact that this thought popped into her mind in the first place probably said quite a bit about her.

"How generous. What do you need me to do, oh great and knowledgeable Jedi book master?"

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Phylis took the sarcasm without rancour, and just nodded. “What I would like you to do is to photograph each and every figure on these carvings in order, then take pictures from further back of the surrounds. I want it all fully documented. When that’s done came and find me.”

The Jedi Master had climbed up onto a fallen stone block and was curiously looking at the are above the nave. It also, inadvertently, gave Siobhan a good look at her rear end.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Phylis Alince"]

"If I do it all well, will you give me a cookiee and autograph one of your books for me?" Siobhan asked sarcastically as Phylis climbed up. Of course, Siobhan did notice her rear. True, she was actually faithful to Tegaea now and not chasing after every pretty skirt anymore, but for now at least she had decided she could still appreciate another woman's assets. Not like Phylis would let her do anything more anyway.

Much like she could still read about Eldorai and Amazon 'bonding rituals'. Regardless she did move her eyes away from the Jedi Master's delectable rear end and so some actual work. The hall was rather dark and the light outside provided little illumination because it was still in the early morning hours, but her bionic eye flashed as she adjusted to ultravision and modified the settings of the holocamera accordingly so that it could cope with the darkness. That done she scanned the walls of the hall, moving across the room, eventually starting to take pictures.

Many of the carvings were badly stained and age had taken their toll, but some were still useful enough. The trained eye could make out Eldorai royals being depicted and glorified, chief among them Ariana the Great, who in one particular instance seemed to be standing upon a pile of automatons, the Kar'zun perhaps, a flaming sword held erect, with the light of Ashira shining behind her.

 

[Phylis Alince]

"She was quite a woman, by all accounts," Phylis said, dropping down to the floor. "Ariane is still a heroine to the Eldorai, an example of someone who stood up to an enemy and defeated them, rather than what they think the current Queens do, which is give in to outsiders."
Phylis shrugged. "The Kar'zun, for all their skills, did not have star destroyers and blasters."

She looked at @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]'s photos and nodded. "Well done! So why do you think this Temple was built here and then abandoned? It's in a terrible place. There's got to be a reason."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Phylis Alince"]

"Silaqui's not half bad," Siobhan muttered. She did meet the Queen quite frequently since she was responsible for relations with Eldorai. Silaqui still wanted to get into her pants. Admittedly Siobhan, when she was not feeling masochistic and self-loathing, did like the attention, but she was supposed to be faithful now and she was sure that applied to 'negotiations' as well. "Don't blame 'em for not being happy with the Protectorate. It's run by idiots. Course next door are Fringe Sithies," she shrugged. Hence why she did not give a damn about it anymore, though sometimes part of her felt like taking an army of space elves and conquering it all over again.


"Err, it's associated with Ariana somehow? First victory over Kar'zun, elves pledged allegianc to her? She had a 'vision' from Ashira or Valora here?" she suggested. Why did Phylis feel the need to get her to think about things? "Well, since we're quite certain there aren't any demons lurking here, maybe it got abandoned cause of a natural disaster. Or somewhere down the line a Star Queen after Ariane neglected it because while Ariane's a heroine it was too associated with her and they didn't want to stand in her shadow and built an even grander one." A cynical perspective, no doubt influenced by certain trends in the Protectorate; not that she was bitter.

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Phylis smiled just a bit. “So cynical. You probably have reason to. Politics and business is a dirty game…even the Jedi are not immune to this sort of backroom dealing. I suspect that you are correct though. Ariane’s granddaughter was irresponsible and left the Matriarchy to her lover. It was a scandal, so that new woman had incentive to gently distance people from the old dynasty just in case they tried to back a usurper…which did happen a few times. Always she promised it’d be repaired very soon, but it never was. So this place fell into ruin.”
Phylis sighed. “Well, that’s life. Play with the big girls and you have to be prepared to break a few eggs.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Phylis Alince"]

Siobhan shared a look with Phylis. Perhaps this history was not as totally boring as she had thought. Or rather she could at least draw some parallels to what had happened in the Protectorate. She did not show it but she still felt bitter about Cater, in her eyes a blustering moron. Tegaea had tried to fix his mess and his regime acted like she had never existed. Her opinion of Cira was not very high either these days.


"I've broken a lot," she said matter-of-factly as she pulled herself out of her musings. "I'm glad to be out of the game of thrones and all that."

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis nodded understandingly. "I've never understood it, Siobhan. People do so much to gain power, and then what? Is it the sensation of having control over others that gives them pleasure? Is it the selfish desire to change the galaxy in their own image? Most of the time these people spend more time fighting for and defending power than actually using or enjoying it. I don't understand it. That's why I prefer my books and my relics and my own company. The ambition which drives even the most innocent Jedi I do not understand."
She sighed. "I guess I'm just out of step with how people think, hmm?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Phylis Alince"]


Siobhan fidgeted a bit as she looked for a cigarette packet in her coat before realising that she had not brought one. She was trying to quit after all. "You are talking to a failed military dictator, you know? Never got around to the instituting a Cult of Personality, building easily destroyed superweapons and and making figure-hugging leather mandatory for female employees part," she quipped a bit lamely. "Tegs wanted to get to the top because like me she grew up in the gutter with nothing and wanted to show everyone she could be better, that she could make it. And she wanted to do the right thing. Felt sometimes like she was alone in that. Course no regime can survive without doing shady stuff, unless it wants to get eaten by more ruthless rivals." she shrugged.


"I didn't really want to be Exarch, always tried to avoid promotion, maybe that was a mistake who knows. But no one else was stepping up to the plate and I had to help her. Well, it was pretty flattering that she trusted me like that. Then...well, wasn't exactly fun and games, spent most of the time dealing with invasion scares, looking over your shoulder because otherwise the friendly neighbours will stab you in the back. Life's simpler now, I don't miss it."

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
“Well leather is a practical and useful fashion material. Though…probably not in the way you were planning on using it,” Phylis said darkly. She could imagine all too well what it would mean.
“Hmmph, well, I’ve never been so arrogant as to think I could tell people that I know better and that they should let me govern them. Yes, I’m a Jedi Master on the Council, but that’s different. My judgements are based on personal experience and limited in scope. To be in a government means saying you know how a person should live their life and do it only your way.” The Jedi shrugged. “A little over dramatic perhaps, but I do not like military dictators or people ruling in the name of the people. Democracy might be flawed, but it’s better than the alternatives. And yes, I am a Jedi, but we are democratic in our own way, we grant people the vote and a say on issues they actually know about.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Phylis Alince"]

"Tegs was elected. So was I - that was probably a mistake, but still. Half of the great Republic's members, whose 'guardians' the Jedi are, aren't even 'democracies' - and joined because of military force not to live the Coruscant Dream. People of Contruum certainly didn't - and they got discarded and thrown into the meat grinder. And the Senate gave you Aleidis Ijet and the Jedi just happily went along with it when she made an alliance with the Sith! What Ijet told Tegs point-blank. Don't recall the 'people' or the Senate getting the chance to vote on that. Let's not forget the Republic almost invading us. You almost got a bloody Sith in the Senate, but everyone called it peace for our time. Took the Senate house getting blown up for people over there to get a brain. Well, from what I hear, half the Council's acting...like me now...or even nuttier. Which is all sorts of messed up, if what I hear about Metalorn is true," Siobhan said sharply, tone more harsher than she had intended.

It was the past but she still felt bitter about it and her views on the Republic, the Jedi and their self-righteous posturing had not improved. The Betrayal of Metalorn was not easily forgotten. Aside from that, the hands of the Jedi and the Republic were in no way cleaner than the Protectorate's - Contruum and Metalorn told a different story. Of course, news about Manaan had not yet filtered through. She was a butcher and probably a war criminal, but she was open about it at least, not that this made her victims any less dead!

Of course...that did not make lashing out against Phylis any more fair!

"Anyway. The Protectorate's a bloated shell and run by a pompous idiot and since it's weak it's gonna fall. Well, I just can't seem to care, kind of liberating really. The Republic and the Jedi can extend their brand of 'freedom' to Fondor and Corellia. Or the Fringe Sith will go for a joyride since Cater's 'small elite group' got thrashed. Atrisians will jump in if they have the energy and brains for it," she sighed. "Let's just...leave politics out of it. What's next on the exploration to do list?"